Two Translators Who Restored God's Name to the New Testament

 One of the first prayers that many people learn is the Lord's Prayer, which Jesus taught his followers. This prayer is commonly called the New Testamen. The prayer begins: "Our Father who art in heaven, let name be sanctified." (Matthew 6:9) Yet, God's name, rendered in English as "Jehovah" or sometimes "Yahweh," is rarely found in English translations of the New Testament.  These translations do, however, include the names of false gods, such as Zeus, Hermes, and Artemis. So should they not mention the name of our true God and Author of the Bible? - ACTS 14:12; 19:35; 2 TIMOTHY 3:16. 

The English Bible translators Lancelot Shadwell and Fredrick Parker believed that God's name should be restored to the New Testament.  Why use the word "restored"? Because they concluded that God's name was there originally but was later taken out. Why did they draw that conclusion?

Shadwell and Parker knew that existing manuscripts of what is often called the Old Testament, originally written mainly in Hebrew, include God's personal name thousands of times. So they wondered why the New Testament manuscripts available to them omitted the full form of God's name. Also Shadwell noticed that when the New Testament manuscripts use common Old Testament expressions, such as "the angel of Jehovah," copyists of the Greek New Testament had evidently replace God's name with terms like Ky'ri-os, which means "Lord."  - 2 KINGS 1:3, 15; ACTS 12:23. 

Next time: Two Translators Who Restored God's Name to the New Testament - Conclusion

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